Quinoa Lentil Burgers with Kale Salad

Posted by Yonah Kalikow, Massachusetts on July 15, 2014

"My family and I were cleaning out our house for Passover,” says Yonah, “and I wanted to give myself a challenge. I used ingredients that we needed to get rid of for Passover for the burger. Then I thought, kale is a very big power food, and I have it a lot and enjoy it, so why don’t I make a salad with it? I was thinking that most burgers come with coleslaw, so I made a kale slaw instead." - Yonah Kalikow, age 10, Massachusetts

Makes 4 to 8 servings

Ingredients:

For the Burgers:

½ cup quinoa

1 cup dried green or brown lentils

3 bay leaves

¼ cup olive oil

1 large tomato, finely diced

1 medium yellow onion, peeled and grated or chopped

2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce

½ cup BBQ sauce

1 cup wasabi peas

Hamburger rolls

Garnish: Tomato and onion slices, lettuce leaves

For the Kale Slaw:

1 bunch kale, chopped

2 carrots, peeled and grated

¼ cup dried cranberries

Juice of ½ lemon

For the Dressing:

½ lemon

2 tablespoons mustard

2 tablespoons raw agave syrup or honey

For the Sauce:

2 tablespoons Sriracha

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

2 tablespoons mustard

1 tablespoon raw agave syrup or honey

Preparation:

To cook the quinoa/lentils for the Burgers: In a large pot, combine quinoa and lentils. Add 3 cups of water and bay leaves, bring to a boil over moderate heat, cover, and cook on low for about 30 minutes, or until quinoa and lentils are tender. Remove from the heat and discard the bay leaves.

In a wok or sauté pan, warm 2 tablespoons olive oil over moderate heat. Add the tomato and onion and sauté for 5 minutes or until soft. Add the lentil/quinoa mix, soy sauce and BBQ sauce, and stir for 2 minutes.

To make the Kale Slaw and Dressing: In a large bowl, combine the kale, carrots, and cranberries. Squeeze lemon over slaw, add mustard and agave, and stir well to combine.

Put the wasabi peas into a blender and coarsely grind. Add two-thirds of the lentil/quinoa mixture and pulse until smooth, then return to pan, mix thoroughly and let cool. Once cool, shape into 4 large patties or 8 small ones.

In a large sauté pan, warm the remaining olive oil and cook patties over moderate heat for 3 minutes on each side, or until lightly golden. Meantime, in a small bowl, combine all of the sauce ingredients. Serve on rolls with sauce and slaw.